Priority, not officers decide appointments for Chandigarh Administrator’s Janta Darbar: RTI
The RTI had also sought details of minutes of all such public grievance meetings held so far under the present administrator along with a list of persons who were the attendees
The RTI filed by R K Garg sought details of the process of Janta Darbar chaired by Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria (File Photo)
Appointments for Janta Darbar held by the Chandigarh Administrator are not decided by officers and are according to the priority of the grievance, a RTI reply stated. Every Wednesday, the Janta Darbar is held at the UT Secretariat to resolve public grievances.
The RTI filed by R K Garg sought details of the process of Janta Darbar chaired by Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria. The RTI had also sought details of minutes of all such public grievance meetings held so far under the present administrator along with a list of persons who were the attendees. He also asked about the procedure adopted to select, data of requests received at designated email address, and the list of persons shortlisted.
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“It is informed that minutes are not prepared. Appointments are not decided by the officers in connection with the Janta Darbar conducted by the Chandigarh Administrator. However, till date, a total of eight Janta Darbars have been held, during which the representations/grievances personally submitted by individuals to the Administrator are considered and decided. The appointment to the applicant may be given as per the priority of their grievance,” the reply said.
Following the reply, Garg said that the response suggests that there is no record maintained, which means accountability of the administration cannot be fixed. “This situation makes it a futile and self-satisfying exercise which is no use to the public and ultimately people will lose interest.”
“In every situation there is scope for improvement and comparison. We suggest making it transparent and accountable by responding to complainants in writing like earlier administration forums, which ran successfully for many years from 2008 to 2014,” he added.
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Garg said that during those years every resident would get all details in RTI and IT dept had full records and accountability. “In fact, many residents claimed benefits based on official documents,” he underscored, hoping that the UT will implement measures to make it a “public-oriented exercise”.
The RTI filed by R K Garg sought details of the process of Janta Darbar chaired by Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria (File Photo) 
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